July 1: Lower Cost Student Loans Start Today (New America Foundation)

From Higher Ed Watch (New America Foundation):

A new era in financial aid has begun. The Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program was officially put to rest today and from now on, the government will make all new federal student loans directly to students through their colleges. As a result, the federal student loan program will now be substantially simpler and less costly, and much less susceptible to the types of corruption and abuses that have run rampant in the FFEL program. As monumental as the shift to direct lending is, it is, however, just one of the changes to federal student aid that took effect on Thursday that will benefit students and borrowers. Among other things, the maximum Pell Grant is increasing, the interest rate on federally subsidized Stafford loans is decreasing, and improvements have been made to a federal program that aims to help borrowers with low incomes who are heavily indebted.
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